Esclarmonde de Foix Hélène Bernard, SRC

n her book entitled Great Women Initiates, Hélène Bernard, SRC, shares Ithis short story of the life of one of the most prominent Cathars of the Languedoc in the south of France, a Good Woman or Bona Femna in every sense of the word.

In the year 1155, in the heart of the Occitan country, in a majestic castle overlooking the river Ariège, a second Located at the center of the triangle of Carcassonne- child was born to Lady Zebelia Trencavel Toulouse-Andorra, Foix lies in the foothills of the de Carcassonne and Roger Bernard, Pyrenees mountain range in southern France. The town is dominated by the imposing tenth-century château des Count of Foix. She was a little girl, and Comtes De Foix, shown here. This was once the home of the wonderful and predestined name of Raymond Roger and his sister, Esclarmonde. Esclarmonde was given to her. It was from “guardians of the high plateaus,” and under this haunt, like an eagle’s nest perched the protection of powerful armories, the on a mountaintop, that her father, a walls of the monumental and solitary powerful man, managed his estates. dwelling sheltered the happy childhood The house of Foix was of Iberian origin, of Esclarmonde. all the way back to Adcantuan who had fought against Caesar. Heir to the manor Idyllic Days of Foix through the counts of Comminges In 1162, when Esclarmonde was seven of Merovingian stock, it became, under the years old, her father’s eldest daughter, who names of the counts of Carcassonne and was born from his first marriage to Cecile Couserans, titular to the County of Foix of Barcelona, was married. On the occasion around 1068. The feudal rule of the counts of of these magnificent wedding nuptials, the Foix crept into the Ariège Valley and consisted little girl saw for the first time the best of of many manors, the majority of which were Occitan chivalry. established under the reign of Charlemagne. Esclarmonde’s radiant beauty blossomed Through Andorra and Urgel, the county forth in this cultured and sparkling southern was directly connected with the Iberian court, between her older brother, Ramon- Peninsula. In the central Pyrenees its sentinels Roger, nicknamed the druz (the initiate, on the steps of Spain were called Montcalm, the pure, the troubadour), and her little Vil-de-Soc, Siguer, Aston, and l’Hospitalet, sister, Zebelia. In both summer and winter, while Aulus and Luchon led to Gascony. the days were spent hunting and feasting. Confident in the motto Custos Summorum, Travelers came and went, always enjoying the

Page 43 open and warm hospitality of Roger Bernard and his family. Immediately after sunset, with a fire crackling in the fireplace, guests were well-fed. Then, affected by the soft glow of candlelight, one listened, with open mind and soul, to the sacred texts and hidden words that the troubadours sang and declaimed from castle to castle in a secret language called the Gai Savoir (happy knowledge).

The Courts of Love Courts of love flourished in Foix, Aragon, Cerdagne, Troubadours! This name alone rouses Gascony, and in the Languedoc. us: Trovare-Trouve (found). They had found a truth and, garbed in the hermetic colors With a long lineage, extending through green, yellow, and red, they spread their the Egyptians, Greeks, and Essenes, the knowledge. Secret ambassadors and the Arabs became the keepers of this “science of bearers of news among the influential people the Magi,” and it was to seek this knowledge, of the time, these initiates called fideles rather than to conquer Jerusalem, that some d’amour, became the disciples and secret of the first Crusaders started on their way, propagators of Catharism in Occitània. bringing back sacred knowledge from which “Courts of love” flourished in Foix, Pyrenean Catharism was born. Aragon, Cerdagne, Gascony, and the But the proud knights also brought back Languedoc. Divine science and ascetiscism a taste for luxury to which the Church of were highly valued, and borrowing from Peter and its servants had succumbed, for ancient druid teachings, they honored the some bishops and abbots lived ostentatious law of numbers. This ancient oral tradition lives, filled with the comforts of the best that had its ultimate origins in the “mystery” money could buy. Esclarmonde watched and initiations of the old Egyptian religion learned of the weaknesses of the clergy and which over time spread into communities the unvirtuous lives of many clerics. throughout the Mediterranean basin. Marriage Her adolescence was marked by the appearance of a Bulgarian (Bogomil) bishop called Nicetas. His “mission” gave structure and formality to Catharism as he organized its clergy and the statutes of its dissident Catholics. The House of Foix welcomed him, and young Esclarmonde and her brother Ramon-Roger were highly impressed by his personality. Esclarmonde was too young to play a role in the management of a religion which called for nothing less than perfection. Rosicrucian Nevertheless, she had much influence at Digest No. 2 the court of Foix. She was intelligent and 2011 Seal of the Count of Foix. refined and had famous troubadours as

Page 44 teachers. Witty and talented, at twenty years of age, her reputation as a woman of superior intelligence and knowledge attracted many admirers and suitors to her. But like many of her peers, she sacrificed herself to a union ruled by politics. So in 1175 she married Jourdan III de l’Isle Jourdain, who was related to the counts of Toulouse. The name Jourdain (Jordan) was a reminder of his crusading ancestors, who had probably taken their name from the river Jordan in Palestine. Jourdain’s education was based on a particularly fervent form of Catholicism, but Esclarmonde was a Cathar and maybe she had hoped to eventually convert her husband. If their marriage was not a complete spiritual union, it was nevertheless The adolescence of Esclarmonde was marked by the appearance of a Bogomil bishop called Nicetas, a very fruitful one! Six children were born in who gave structure and formality to Catharism. The the family home where Jourdain ruled by the Bogomils were Christian Gnostics from Eastern letter and Esclarmonde by the intellect. First, Europe. Pictured here is one of only three Bogomil gravestones in Bosnia. there were two daughters, Escarone and Obisca; then three boys, Bernard, Jourdan, In 1181, Cardinal Henri of Albano and Othon; and finally a little girl, Philippa. openly declared war on the Cathar “sinners” For twenty-five years Esclarmonde led a and Jourdain was dragged into this repressive dignified life with Jourdain. She had given crusade. As an insane torrent of hatred and up trying to convince her husband of the violence raged throughout the region and cogency of Cathar doctrine but watched with a firmness of conviction, Esclarmonde very closely the development of the situation first protected and then led the condemned in Occitània. She conducted courts of love people to the County of Foix. The Cardinal and remained in touch with the greatest of Albano was furious and continued his “heretical” personalities of the time. The cruelty. Monks loyal to him spread the Catholic Church tried in vain to reclaim rumor that Esclarmonde was responsible the noble “lost sheep.” At Albi, in 1176, a for this “ravage by fire and the sword.” They council reminded them of their capital sins, had not forgiven her for her firm stand and and a little later, the archbishop of Lyon sought to influence her husband against her. condemned them and accused the future During these difficult times, Raymond VI of Toulouse of protecting Esclarmonde displayed an unusual strength them. Finally, on March 20, 1179, Pope and exhibited extraordinary feelings of social Alexander III excommunicated them all. solidarity; a very rare thing in the twelfth Courage and Compassion century. In 1185 Pope Lucius III allowed the In 1180, her little sister Zebelia married wounded country to heal its wounds, and Roger I of Comminges. Their paths were Esclarmonde resumed her life as lady of the different, but the two sisters respected manor, attending to her children. each other and helped one another on In the months that followed, she had the several occasions. great joy of seeing her brother Ramon-Roger,

Page 45 whom she loved dearly, marry the delightful for her nephews and devoted herself, body Philippa de Moncade. Philippa loved and and soul, to her vocation. admired Esclarmonde and followed in her Known as the “Dove of the Paraclete” footsteps on the perilous path of Catharism. Esclarmonde established social institutions, For many years, in spite of the turmoil, workshops, centers of apprenticeship in the Count of Foix, Roger Bernard, maintained various branches, and especially hospitals peace on his estates. In 1188 however, he for the elderly and those wounded in passed on, and on the threshold of the the war, as well as lodgings for the ever- thirteenth century a new pope, Innocent III, increasing number of refugees. Under her was elected to office. The first years of the new leadership, convents for “Perfect Ones” and century were very trying for Esclarmonde. schools where poor children were taught the Dove of the Paraclete new spirit were founded. Led by her, the “Perfect Ones” went to every home. They In 1203, her brother Ramon-Roger was assisted outcasts and took care of the sick. taken prisoner, and in 1204, after twenty-nine Unconstrained, the people were won over by years of marriage, her husband Jourdain de their caring, charitable ways, and their pure l’Isle Jourdain passed on. Having never ceased form of mysticism. to love his wife, in spite of her “subversive” ideas, the clauses of Jourdain’s will were in Perfect One favor of Esclarmonde. His whole family was In 1206, after three years in captivity, by now loyal to Catharism. Children, sons-in- Ramon-Roger rejoined his court. At last law, and daughters-in-law felt a deep affection Esclarmonde could devote herself to the and a great admiration for Esclarmonde. life she had been yearning for. She retired Having no regard for the material things to Castellar de Pamiers. The high Cathar of life, Esclarmonde left to her children officers had nothing more to teach her, and the wealth and huge estates of their father, Guilabert de Castres, her teacher and faithful then returned to her native mountains and friend, deemed her worthy to be raised to the remained in Foix to rule there in her brother, rank of a “Perfect One” and Archdeaconess. Ramon-Roger’s, absence. Free to assert Accompanied by Auda de Fangeaux, Fais, herself in her faith, she surrounded herself the Countess of Dufort, and Ramonda Miro, with officers and friends of Ramon-Roger, Esclarmonde received the “Consolamentum” and proclaimed herself dedicated to the in Fangeaux. This purifying ceremony Paraclete (in biblical terms the Holy Spirit strengthened the new Archdeaconess in her sent by Jesus following the Crucifixion). The faith, and she devoted all her time and vitality knights and the people from the surrounding to the establishment of Cathar communities. area responded to her appeal for unity for a Along with her activities, Esclarmonde single faith. She selected trustworthy tutors undertook, with Raimon de Perelha, her knight-servant, and other dignitaries such as Guilabert de Castres, the reconstruction of the fortress of Montségur. Relations with the Church were becoming bitter. Church Scorn Innocent III issued a sharp anathema Rosicrucian against the innovators but Esclarmonde Digest could not idly stand by while the South No. 2 2011 The Bogomil/Cathar expansion across medieval Europe. was so badly treated. The papal malediction

Page 46 arrived, fleeing from the brutality of Simon de Montfort. For years, terrible repressions were carried out by his forces. The bishop of Foulques founded a brotherhood whose members were recruited among the most fanatical and violent enemies of the Cathars. Simon de Montfort murdered “heretics” by the thousands in a bloody frenzy, sparing none. The occupants of Béziers took refuge

The “Perfects” or “Good Friends” as they called each in a church upon the arrival of the tyrant and other, spread the Word to the faithful. Bound by very his mercenary abbots. It was then that the strict rules of conduct, they had taken a vow of poverty, abbot of Citeaux cried out: “Kill them all, chastity, and obedience. God will know His own!” And there, in that place of worship, these unfortunate people only strengthened her convictions. In April were burned alive, like so many others. 1206, for nearly one month, the seventh contradictory cross-examining council was Finally, the King of France became held in Pamiers. disenchanted with the bloody, dishonorable way in which Simon de Montfort and The Church had the fiery new bishop his acolytes had led the crusade. Innocent of Toulouse as its main representative. III remained caught between his personal Esclarmonde, surrounded by Philippa and temperance and the growing ambitions her beautiful daughters, Ermessinde and of his subjects. The principle of the Holy Indie de Fangeaux, participated passionately War could not hide reality: a policy of in these debates. She demanded complete conquest. For years, pillages, murders, and equality between men and women, an pogroms continued. But in 1227, Occitània established fact in the “rebellious” religion. experienced a period of respite. Already prejudiced against women in general through his religious training, the prelate Cathar Revival of Toulouse, annoyed by the intellectual Having weathered the bloody times, abilities of his rival, challenged her: “Madam, Esclarmonde, almost in her eighties by go and spin your wheel; it does not become now, believed the time was ripe to restore you to argue in such debates!” Conflict and Persecution On November 17, 1207, the pope ordered the King of France to arm his soldiers and march against the “infidels,” as the Cathars were called. Indulgences and promises of salvation were granted to them. Esclarmonde prepared Montségur as the major center of resistance and moved the treasure of the Paraclete up to the high rock. Surrounded by the deacons and the “Perfect Ones,” she often looked down toward the forests of Belena (a reminder of the Celtic deity of Light) and of Quier (the priest of the mistletoe). Soon, files of refugees Expulsion of the Cathars at Carcassonne in 1209.

Page 47 good order within the Cathar religion. She The Dove of the Paraclete was spared helped and cared for the faithful adepts, the pain of seeing the fall of her beloved and reorganized the clergy. Communities, castle, the sight of the final defeat, the hospices, and workshops were established martyrdom of her friends, and the final throughout the area. The Archdeaconess subjugation of her free Occitània, for in conferred the Consolamentum and baptism, 1240 at Montségur, the Cathar princess and supervised numerous convents. passed on and “journeyed to the stars.” Catharism rose again from its ashes. Guilabert de Castres had the mystical joy However, as late as 1229, the Cathars of secretly burying the great Esclarmonde, continued to be persecuted, and many lived his faithful companion through times of joy deep in the woods or as discreetly as possible. and times of trial. From good times to bad Some found sanctuary with sympathizing times, they had served the good. noblepeople and a great solidarity was “Great Esclarmonde! A dove has flown established despite the ceaseless repression. away, but in the Cathar country your name In August 1232, Guilabert de Castres and remains forever engraved.”—Light of Esclarmonde returned to Montségur. the World!

The Dove of Peace, by Jacquelyn Paull, SRC.

Rosicrucian Digest No. 2 2011

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